Camera set in the eye

A Canadian documentary filmmaker is building a camera that can fit into his eyes.

Rob Spence and the special camera. Photo: AP.

Rob Spence's (right) Canadian right eye was broken in a shooting accident when he was a kid. Three years ago he was forced to give up and put on a false eyelid. A fan of science fiction, Spence realizes that he can turn a false eye into a useful tool to produce documentaries that people can not do with a big camera.

Spence's special equipment includes a camera, a battery and a wireless transmitter. Putting that stuff inside an artificial eye is not easy, but Spence gets the support of many of the top US engineers. OmniVision, a maker of cameras for mobile phones, laptops and endoscopes, sent experts to help him.

Spence says the camera in his eye will help him record conversations in which the character speaks more naturally than when standing in front of a traditional camera. "As a documentary filmmaker, I have to try to make a connection with the person being filmed, and eye contact is the best way to make that connection. They are being filmed, so they will talk more naturally, but I will ask them permission before putting their image into the movie, " Spence said.

Zafer Zamboglu, chief technology officer at OmniVision, said that the introduction of the camera in the eye would boost research to restore sight to the blind. The OmniVision engineers hope to complete the camcorder next month.